


The Thing About Christmas Parties

by PlayingChello



Series: Secret Santa Gifts [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, and Hitch flirting with Levi, possessive eren, really just a lot of grousing about Christmas, slightly possessive Levi?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 16:44:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2819177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlayingChello/pseuds/PlayingChello
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Survey Corp. is having a Christmas party and Eren does not want to go, but Levi has to, and so by proxy, so does Eren. Unfortunately, that means socialising with the guests.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Thing About Christmas Parties

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Panm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panm/gifts).



> My Secret Santa gift for [Poetassexmadpianostool](http://poetassexmadpianostool.tumblr.com). The prompt was possessive Eren and this just poured from my brain. I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> EDIT: There is now a follow-up for some time down the road [here](http://playingchello.tumblr.com/post/109418131195/so-homo-penetrator-asked-for-a-wedding-party).

“But I don’t want to go to the stupid ass Christmas party!” Eren wines for the millionth time.

“And you really think I do? I’d much rather avoid stupid networking with shitty people, but Erwin’s made it a damn requirement so you’re going with me.”

“I’d much rather you stay home and we celebrate a little differently,” Eren’s arms wrap around my neck and he presses himself against me suggestively.

I gently pull away some, “As much as I would prefer that, I can’t get out of this. Erwin has already made that abundantly clear. And he even mentioned looking forward to seeing you. I’m not getting out of this. You’re not getting out of this. End of discussion. Go put on something nice.”

Eren frowns and sticks his tongue out. I almost grab it, just to see what he’d do. But I’d rather not get his spit all over my fingers. After a moment of defiance, he separates from me and heads to our bedroom. I take the opportunity of peace to make a cup of tea.

I’m nearly done with my tea when I hear Eren call from the bedroom door, “Are you planning on getting ready anytime soon?”

I turn my head to respond but my voice catches when I see him. It’s not like I’ve never seen him cleaned up before, but fucking hell. The kid looks fantastic in his suit with a red button up shirt and black tie, hugging his body in all the right ways. I never wanted to go to the party before, and now I really just want to stay here and dismantle that suit.

Eren notices my speechlessness, “My offer still stands,” he pokes mischievously, “I’m sure we can find more creative uses for this tie.”

My eyes narrow at him, “We’re going to the goddamn party and afterwards—I’ll be more than creative.”

His smirk widens briefly then his cockiness is wiped away as he registers what I had just said. I leave him staring in shock as I make my way into the bedroom.

My suit is much like Eren’s, but I have a black shirt. At the risk of being entirely ridiculous, I opt for my red tie to match him. I make a few adjustments and run my hand through my hair. I’m really not looking forward to this, but at least I get to see Eren dressed up for the next few hours. Small consolation.

I go to the bathroom to put on a few finishing touches and take a shit. When I emerge, Eren has his back to me, sitting at the kitchen table. I sneak up behind him and run my hands down his shoulders and over his chest. I lean down to whisper in his ear, “Ready?”

Eren makes an unpleasant sound and moved to stand, my arms falling from him. When he turns, I’m able to enjoy the moment of dumbfounded shock as he looks me over. It’s nice that even after three years of dating we still manage to render each other speechless. I allow myself a satisfied smirk before I move to grab our coats, holding his out to him, “Come on, can’t be late.”

He looks like a child when he scrunches his face up like he just ate something sour, it’s adorable. But he takes the coat and we finally depart.

\--

Survey Corp. is a prestigious publishing company located in a high rise office building in the middle of the city. I’ve worked there for nearly fifteen years and I’ve been an editor-in-chief for nearly five. Unfortunately, such work requires I socialise with clients which is the biggest reason Erwin has used to force me into attending this bullshit Christmas party. But with Eren on my arm, warm body comforting my left side, I just might be able to handle the hell of it.

“Good evening, sirs. May I take your coats?” A woman with her hair tied back tightly wearing a simple uniform of a white shirt and black slacks asks as we enter the lobby. We both relinquish our coats and let the elevator take us to the party.

The door opens to an expansive room decked out in tinsel, lights, and crystal snowflakes. We barely manage to step into the room before Hanji, dressed in a lovely suit, approaches. “Don’t you gentlemen look nice. It’s wonderful to see you, Eren.” They turn to me, “Levi, Erwin is looking for you.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic. Not even a minute, must be a record. Alright, lead the way, shit-glasses. I’ll meet up with you again when I’m finished, Eren.” Eren frowns slightly, but nods his acquiescence and Hanji starts off. I follow begrudgingly, already feeling a dangerous scowl setting in.

The CEO of Survey Corp. is standing with a group of well dressed people near the center of the room. Hanji leaves me standing a few feet away as they approach him and tap his shoulder. He listens for a few moments, then glances toward where I’m standing, before straightening and turning to the group of people he’s with. I watch impatiently as he excuses himself from the other guests and makes his way over to me.

“Levi, you made it!” he says as he claps me on the back.

“Only because you forced me to,” I grumble back, glaring.

He offers a smile that’s just shy of patronising. “Yes, and you’ll use the opportunity to cozy up to clients and investors. Be nice, and for god’s sake, Levi, smile. It won’t kill you.”

My eyes narrow, “I fucking hate you sometimes.” His gaze hardens dangerously, “Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’ll play nice. Is that all?”

He stares me down for a few tense moments, then flashes his brilliant Captain America smile, “Yes, I’ll be seeing you around. And say hello to Eren for me.”

Without waiting to see if he manufactures some other reason to make this night even more of a living hell, I dismiss myself. I find Eren again near the bar where he’s sitting next to an editor in my department. The editor, Marco is his name if I recall correctly, is sitting a little too close and smiling a little too wide. Eren seems fairly oblivious, though. I stand off behind them a ways, watching the exchange. Eren doesn’t seem to realise how alluring he is, especially all dressed up like this, but I can tell you Marco sure does. But I know it’s my bed he’ll be sleeping in tonight.

When Marco runs his fingertips down Eren’s arm, I decide it’s time to intervene. I approach quietly and sit on Eren’s other side. As soon as he notices I’m there, his head turns to me and the freckled editor is forgotten. I smirk slightly at how right I had been.

“Levi! I got you a drink.” He slides a glass of what I assume is a rum and coke toward me, “I was just talking to Marco, he says he’s an editor here.” He turns back to Marco, “Marco, this is my boyfriend, Levi. Do you know each other?”

I lean over so I can catch Marco’s eye and raise an eyebrow at his somewhat terrified expression, “Hello, Marco. I hope you’re enjoying yourself.”

Marco’s cheeks flush and he looks away, “Uh, yeah. But I should probably go and find my authors. Nice to meet you, Eren.” He ducks his head and leaves quickly.

Eren turns back to me, “Oh, he left fast. He looked terrified of you.”

The corner of my lips turn up, “Something like that. Anything else exciting happen while I was gone?” He shakes his head and takes a sip of his drink. “I’ve been tasked with buttering up those with money. Care to join me?”

He takes another long drink, emptying the glass, before he nods and stands, offering his hand. I roll my eyes, but take it anyway. Once standing, our hands part and we walk together toward a random group of stuck up looking rich people. At least one of them is familiar, I think he’s an author. “Good evening, I hope you’re all enjoying yourselves.” 

Three sets of eyes turn to stare at me, all looking somewhat irritated by my barging in. Well they can go fuck themselves. But still, I did promise to play nice. “Quite. Erwin’s really outdone himself this year,” one of the men, tall and somewhat seedy looking says.

I force a pleasant smile, “Indeed,” I hold out a hand, “My name is Levi Ackerman. I’m an editor-in-chief here.” I shake each of their hands in turn, the man who had spoken first, then the woman, a pretty young thing with shoulder length sandy hair and a dangerously flirtatious air about her. Lastly is the familiar one, about the same age as the girl, with black hair in an unfortunate bowl cut with the underside shaved similarly to mine. They introduce themselves as Nile Dawk, Hitch Dreyse, and Marlow Freudenburg respectively. I’m right about Marlow being an author, someone in Hanji’s department is handling him. Nile and Hitch are investors, both supplying obscene amounts of money to keep our company running.

“How did someone as handsome as you get such a boring job sitting at a desk all day?” Hitch asks suggestively. I feel Eren bristle beside me and his fingers brush against mine before he twines our fingers together.

I smirk, “Looks have nothing to do with it. I don’t find the work boring, I enjoy what I do.”

Her laughter dominates the conversation for a moment, a little too fake, “I can’t imagine being stuck at a desk every day for hours on end. How do you stand it?” She smiles in what I’m sure she thinks is flirtatious, and for anyone else probably would be, but I just find it patronising.

“Like I said, I enjoy the work. A great deal can be said for the privilege to read books from new authors every day.” While I speak, Eren’s hand loosens only for him to pace it on the small of my back. He’s getting possessive and it almost takes the edge off the painful conversation I’m being subjected to. I brush my knuckles along the outer seam of his slacks covertly.

This time, when Hitch laughs, she leans into me and places long fingers on my shoulder, letting them brush along my arm as her arm drops again. I must admit, she’s practiced. And persistent. Were I a weaker soul and even remotely interested in women, she would be doing everything right. As it were, she’s either failed to notice Eren’s creeping in closer to me, or is just ignoring it.

Nile speaks up before Hitch can make another advance, “How are sales looking for this quarter?”

I turned my attention fully to him, thankful for the reprieve from bullshit social graces. “Really well. Most all of our books are selling well over the 500,000 copies mark. Those that aren’t are still too new.”

Unfortunately, Hitch is considerably more stubborn than to let a distraction get in the way of her goals, “So if I have a story I’d like to get published,” she steps in closer to me, nearly blocking Marlow out from the group, “would you help me get there?” She places a slender finger at the center of my chest and drags it down slightly. I have to restrain myself to keep from raising an eyebrow incredulously at her. Eren’s hand moves to encircle my waist and he steps in closer to me, making it abundantly clear that I am far from available.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Marco walking passed our group. I feel slightly bad for what I’m about to do, but he was hitting on my boyfriend, so my compassion only goes so far. “Actually,” I turn to where Marco is walking by, “Marco!” He looks over to me and a brief flash of panic crosses his features, but he comes over nonetheless. “This is Marco, one of my editors. It would be much more likely that he or someone from my department would take over a new author, I’m sure he’d love to explain the process.”

I have to give the kid some credit, he may be somewhat green, but he is definitely a social butterfly. The moment he realises that he has a job to do, he flashes a huge smile and focuses all his attention on Hitch. I take the opportunity to duck out from the group, letting my right arm come up to encircle Eren’s waist as we move away. Hitch’s eyes follow us, but eventually she’s sucked in by Marco’s monologue about the editing process. I glance back a minute later and see her pulling the exact same moves on him.

Eren’s grip on me tightens and his hand sneaks a bit lower. “Can we leave now?”

I glance up at him, “What’s the matter?”

He frowns, “I don’t like seeing people putting their hands all over you when I’m standing right there.”

“And it would be better if you weren’t standing there? You know how this shit works, Eren. I hate it as much as you do. Anyway, what about Marco?”

He pulls me tighter to him, “What about Marco?”

I huff in amusement, “He was getting pretty friendly with you. Maybe I should lock you away for safe keeping, you’re too pretty for this world.” I can be cheeky, too.

Eren flustered really is adorable, “I didn’t-he-no. He was just being nice. And even if he was flirting, he’s not you.”

I gently pull myself away from him so I can take his hands and stand facing him. “And Hitch certainly isn't you. As adorable as your possessiveness is, I’m not going anywhere. You’re the one I want, and that isn’t going to change.”

His lips turn up a bit and I find myself mirroring the action. I stretch up for a kiss and he meets me halfway. When we part he looks like himself again.

“Let’s get another drink and if no one pesters me, I think we can sneak out.”

We return to the bar and order wine. A few people approach and chat with us for a little, but no one stays long and by the time we finish our drinks, I’m more than ready to leave. I scan the room, and once I see Erwin at the other end of the room chatting up investors, I know we’re safe.

Once outside, Eren wraps his arm around my shoulders. “You know, if you’re so worried about people hitting on me, I bet they’d back off if they saw a ring.”

Eren hums and we continue walking. It isn’t until five minutes later that my comment catches up with him. He stops short, his arm falling from me when I continue on a few steps. “Did you- What just happened?”

I smirk and look back at him, “That’s up to you. Come on, let’s go home.”

I hold out my hand for him and he takes it, concentrated frown etched into his features. I leave him to his thoughts on the way home.


End file.
